


Carat

by demonsushi01



Series: Klance Trope Month 2k20 [29]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Assassins & Hitmen, Battle Partners, M/M, POV Lance (Voltron), They shoot a man, rather safe than sorry lmao, the violence isn't too graphic but the warning is there just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:20:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsushi01/pseuds/demonsushi01
Summary: Day 29. Battle PartnersLance is caught in a failed attempt to take out the Voltron mob boss, Allura. She offers him to work for her and who is he to deny it? And hey, he gets to meet a new face later by the name of Keith
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Klance Trope Month 2k20 [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727086
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Carat

When Lance gets brought into Voltron, it’s in handcuffs and a black eye. He’s made to kneel in front of a woman, Allura he believes is her name, and she gives him an almost bored expression. She leans forward, arms resting on her knees as a spill of snow-white hair tumbles down her shoulder.

“Hello,  _ leoncito _ .” She smiles. “I think you know why you’re here.”

“Because I didn’t shoot you?” Lance grunts.

“Quite surprising actually. I know you had a clear shot.” She leans back. 

“So why bring me here?” He gestures with his head to a rather fancy looking office, though with very little recollection of how he got here. 

“I have a proposition for you.” 

“I’m listening.” Lance looks her over.

“How about, I buy you out of your current contract and you pledge loyalty to me. You will do as I ask, when I ask it, and how I ask it.”

“And if I refuse?” 

“Well, I’m sure you know that answer already.” She shrugs, lacing her fingers together in her lap.  _ He’ll die. _

“I have personal rules, you know. Morals and shit like that.”

“Surprising for a hitman.” She chuckles. “But please, do tell.”

“I don’t kill kids.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“I don’t hunt down women.”

“That explains why you hesitated on me. I do have a rebuttal to that though, what if the woman, in particular, is a stain on society, even a criminal perhaps?”

“...Some exceptions could be made.” Lance has done it before, he doesn’t like it.

“Any other requests?”

“I don’t do knives. Give me poison or a gun but I’m not one for blood. Makes me queasy, you see.” He huffs a soft laugh. She nods in understanding. 

“No worries about that then. Do we have a deal?” She asks. Lance thinks in silence a bit longer before he nods.

“Deal.” He says, signing his life away. She smiles brightly and gestures to the two holding him down. They let him go, get the cuffs off of him and pull him to his feet as she stands. She extends her hand out and Lance shakes it. 

“Sapphire is your new code name.” She tells him, turning on her heel and walking out. “You may call me Princess while we’re in the office but on the field during your missions, I am Diamond. At no point are you to address me by my name, do you understand?” She looks over at him. 

“Yes ma’am.” He nods. 

“Citrine? Amethyst?” She looks to the men by his sides.

“Yes, Princess?”

“Show Sapphire around for me will you?”

“Yes, Princess.”

.o0o.

He’s introduced to a ‘Carnelian’ who twitches his orange mustache as he gives Lance a rundown on the medical room and any other needs. Then he’s brought to ‘Peridot’ and ‘Emerald’, a technological duo who both excitedly talk to ‘Citrine’ about one of the programs they’d built. Citrine double-checks their math and helps them with a blueprint of something.

“Why are we named after gemstones?” Lance asks ‘Amethyst’.

“Well, a  _ princess _ would have all kinds of sparkling gems, wouldn’t she?” He chuckles. “Once you’re off your probationary period you’ll get our real names.” He promises as he leaves Citrine behind to show him his new bedroom. 

“This is where you’ll be staying, my room is two down from here if you need anything.” Amethyst smiles.

“Okay.” He nods and steps into his room. He’d expect it to be rundown, but much like the state of the office, it’s extravagant. 

.o0o.

Almost a year into his new employment under Voltron and Allura, he’s given permission to use his fellow team member’s names. 

Citrine is Hunk, a loveable giant who appreciates both fine dining and engineering. He stress bakes, meaning there’s hardly a day without some form of cookies or fresh bread for them to eat. Hunk is  _ easily _ his first friend and his genuine positivity is a skillful tool that is used to coerce businesses into contracts and deals with Allura. 

And when it doesn’t work, well, he plants various bugs, taps, or worse onto the person for blackmailing materials to be gathered. He’s even held a few people in place for Amethyst to turn into a punching bag.

Amethyst is Shiro, a man who has seen some shit apparently, and based on the scars Lance has seen on him, it wasn’t pretty. He doesn’t particularly like talking about it, and Lance knows how to respect the boundary there. He is Allura’s bodyguard first, muscle second. And with a metal fist, his punches do quite the amount of damage to a person alone.

But he’s also a soft-spoken man, imparting wisdom and wisecracks at the same time. He reminds Lance of his dad if he’s being honest. Especially with the way he treats Emerald and Peridot.

Emerald is Matt, Peridot is Pidge. They’re a sibling duo who get along better than Lance did with his siblings. Matt seems to have a master’s in Computer Science while Pidge is all self-taught. Pidge does most of the cracking of codes and monitoring cameras while Matt programs machines to be fabricated by Hunk and deployed by anyone here. Both relay information from the base of operations out to those in the field.

Carnelian is Coran and is essentially Allura’s right hand for a lack of better words. He helps manage anything he can, knowing quite a lot about practically every topic brought up. Lance has also never seen him get his hands dirty before. Though it could be in part to him being up top with Allura most of the time. 

Coran is also who found him in the first place, he found everyone, but the bringing of fresh blood is never his command. It’s Allura’s. 

There’s a commotion amongst the group as they sit at a long table, Allura at the head. She announces there will be a new face and orders Citrine and Sapphire to capture the man in question. Though it surprises Lance, he complies with the request, following Carnelian out of the room for the dossier.

.o0o.

The guy they grab is not one he’s expecting if he’s being honest. He’s scrappy, mean, rude by all accounts. Citrine eventually groans and hits him with a tranquilizer before hefting the unconscious man over his shoulders.

“...Did you do that to me?” Sapphire asks him as he opens the door of their inconspicuous car.

“Do you really want to know?”

“...Not really.”

“Then I won’t tell you.” Citrine shrugs. They drive to the office and haul the guy upstairs, setting him in the office like Sapphire had been his first night.

The conversation with him goes about as it had with Sapphire. An acknowledgment that the person has done something of note, that Allura will buy their contract, and he’ll follow her rules. He argues with her every step of the way, something that  _ was _ warned about in their dossier. 

“I don’t have all night or nearly enough patience to deal with you. Answer my question. Die or join?” She crosses her arms.

“...I’ll join.” He submits.

“Thank you,” She rolls her eyes and rises up. “Ruby will be your new code name.” Citrine undoes his handcuffs and pulls him to his feet. She turns on her heel and walks out. 

“You may call me Princess while we’re in the office but on the field during your missions, I am Diamond. At no point are you to address me by my name, do you understand?” She looks over at him. 

“Yes ma’am.” He nods. 

“Citrine? Sapphire?” She looks to the men by his sides.

“Yes, Princess?”

“Show Ruby around for me will you?”

“Yes, Princess.”

.o0o.

Ruby seems mostly indifferent to his introduction to Coran. He doesn’t seem to care about meeting Pidge or Matt. Lance thinks it’s rude, but everything very quickly comes to a screeching halt when Shiro enters the lab they're at. Ruby stiffens and Shiro gasps softly when they see each other. 

“ _ Ruby _ ,” Lance emphasizes his name. “This is  _ Amethyst _ .” 

“You’re alive?” Ruby asks.

“What are you doing here?” Shiro fires back. 

Turns out the two are half-brothers, another sibling duo in the workplace. Though this one seems less functional than Matt and Pidge. The two but heads frequently, mostly due to Ruby’s inability to stay still and follow instructions. Lance finds Ruby quickly burns out the camaraderie the team initially hands him, finding him to be  _ too _ difficult to work with. 

Lance knows that it’s a life-or-death situation for Ruby to continue on like this and sets out trying to tear down the wall that Ruby hides behind. Even if he has to pull it apart brick by brick. 

.o0o.

Two months into Ruby joining the team Lance, or well, Sapphire is assigned on a mission with him, due to his ability to somehow make Ruby focus. And perhaps Ruby's ability to keep Sapphire motivated during _icky_ missions too. Allura tells Sapphire privately it’s Ruby’s last chance, and if anything goes  _ wrong _ , to terminate their contract with him. He’s not sure how to deal with the secondary mission given to him. 

Maybe it’s a test of  _ his _ wills too.

The mission is simple enough and apparently plays on Ruby’s skillset. Get in, kidnap a man and his valuables, haul him to a warehouse, interrogate and potentially execute said kidnapped person. Kidnapping isn’t usually Sapphire’s thing if he’s honest. Much more of a distance person.

He wonders what Ruby’s skills are then, to make Sapphire his reasonable partner in this. They arrive at the location at their designated time. A mole coming out of the back and passing the two of them blank IDs to get them through the checkpoints of the buildings. Immediately, Ruby tries to take off.

“Woah, woah, woah, cool your jets, Ruby. We’re battle partners.” Sapphire hisses as he grabs his partner.

“Battle partners?”

“It means we do this at the same time and no one takes the lead.”

“I just want this done as fast as possible.” 

“Yeah well, there’s no timer on this mission, we take it as slow as we need to.” He lets him go and they both slip into the building as the mole disappears.

Sapphire finds out that Ruby’s specialty involves taking people out quietly and picking old fashioned locks. While he heads the charge into the building Ruby dutifully stays behind him for once. At least until they get to the man in question. Then Ruby slides in before Sapphire can stop him. It works out in the end, he catches the guy off guard and knocks him out. 

It results in a loud bang against the desk as the man falls on it and Sapphire winces. He’s quick to step forward, draping a burlap sack over his head and tying it off quickly. He plans on radioing in to Peridot and Emerald to find out how to get back down unnoticed when he catches Ruby opening a window. 

“What are you doing?” He hisses.

“Leads to the fire escape where the car’s parked.” Ruby shrugs and then drapes the man over his back fireman style. Sapphire at least gets confirmation the fire escape is safe before they go out. He shuts the window behind them and they’re quick to crawl down to the bottom. 

They load him in the backseat and Sapphire learns of another skill of Ruby’s. He’s quick to hogtie their victim. Sapphire nods in approval and makes sure the child locks on the door are engaged before slipping into the front passenger seat. 

“You really need to be more careful about what you’re doing on these missions. Someone could have been watching from the other buildings.” Sapphire tells him. 

“I know what I’m doing. Especially on  _ this _ side of town. Ain’t nobody saying shit here.” Ruby taps the steering wheel with an anxious finger.

“Maybe not right away, but people  _ will  _ squeal if the right motivations are given.” Sapphire crosses his arms. They fall silent for a few moments, driving toward their destination.

“...Why’d she get you?” Ruby asks him.

“I was hired to take out Voltron’s mob boss and I agreed.” His head falls back against the headrest. “No one told me the person running it now was a woman, and I’m not a lady killer.”

“What a weird thing to get hung up on.” Ruby hums.

“What about you  _ huh _ ?” 

“Stole a bunch of shit from Galra Security. Kinda raised all kinds of red flags.” He shrugs. “If Altea Corp didn’t find me first, no doubt I’d already been dead on the corner of Eighth Street and Ninth Ave.” Sapphire frowns and glances back at their passenger. 

“I don’t…” He starts but hesitates. There’s nothing saying the car isn’t bugged and recording everything they’re saying or doing.

“Hmm?”

“I don’t want to be found again, you know?” He settles for, though Ruby gives him a confused look. 

Their passenger wakes up and grunts before complaining in a panic about what’s going on. Sapphire sighs and reaches over to the radio, turning it on to drown him out. Ruby chuckles and sings along with it. It’s pleasant enough. Sapphire practically jumps out of his seat when his phone vibrates in his pocket and takes over the speakers.

“Yes, Diamond?” Sapphire answers.

“Turns out, we don’t need him anymore.”

“Then what do we --”

“Execute.” She says and the line goes dead. The radio comes back but Ruby turns it down. Sapphire looks to the backseat where the victim has gone quiet. 

“Well, it’s your lucky day.” Sapphire chuckles. “Get out of torture free card.”

“Same place?” Ruby asks him.

“Nah, you’ll need to take a left here.”

Sapphire guides him to the dumpsite and makes sure the coast is clear. Then he’s pulling his gloves on as he checks his handgun. 

“Pull off right here,” Sapphire tells him and Ruby stops the car. They grab the man and haul him out of the back seat. They set him on the edge of the pier on damp concrete. Sapphire takes a deep breath as he cocks his gun.

“Smell that?” He asks.

“River funk?” Ruby raises a brow.

“Didn’t always smell like that out here, huh?” Sapphire kicks his victim. "You have something to say for yourself, _mister?_ "

Sapphire unties the sack around the man’s head and lets him see the world one last time. Ruby takes the sack from him and watches him intensely. 

“Please, I’ll pay you double -- no triple!” 

“Can’t be bought I’m afraid.” Sapphire hums. “Ruby, I need the foam from the trunk, you’ll know the one.” He waves his hand. Ruby goes to the trunk and comes back with a thin chunk of foam littered in bullet holes.

The victim tries to struggle again and Sapphire kneels down over him. He presses the foam to the back of his head and mumbles a soft prayer.

“God please, no.”

“It’s just business,” Sapphire tells him and presses his gun against the foam. It’s a quick pull of the trigger and then it’s done.

Sapphire gets up and flips the safety of his gun back on. He goes to hand them to Ruby but the guy is simply staring at him with hungry eyes.

“Ruby?”

“Well, thanks for the kink I guess?” 

“...What?” Sapphire blinks.

“I most  _ certainly _ did not find guns attractive this morning. But now?” Ruby runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t even know what you did.” Sapphire is trying to catch up but shakes his head. 

“Just take these, battle partner?” He wiggles the foam and gun at him. Ruby takes it and Sapphire is quick to untie the man and strip him down to his underwear before kicking his body into the river. He stuffs the clothes into a bag and they get in the car.

.o0o.

Sapphire is happy to report to Princess that Ruby did his job well, no mistakes this time had occurred. She’s impressed and makes a note of it, sending the two on their way. Lance breathes a sigh of relief as the doors to her office shut behind them. 

“She’s not that scary.”

“Then you’re a fool,” Lance tells him. This is usually where they part ways but Ruby reaches out to him, hand grabbing his arm. 

“I want to tell you my name.” He says.

“What good will it do me? I can’t give you mine for another ten months.” Lance tells him.

“Then tell me yours in ten months.” He shrugs.

“...Fine.”

“Keith.” He sticks out his hand. “Something tells me  _ princess _ is going to be putting us on a lot of missions together from now on.” Lance takes it and shakes his hand. 

“Only because you can’t focus on doing your job right with the others.”

“They’re assholes and won’t listen to me anyway.” He shrugs. 

“Are you saying you’ll listen to me?” Lance asks. 

“If you keep waving that gun of yours around, I will,  _ battle partner _ ,” Keith promises with a wink before walking down the hall to the training room. It leaves Lance feeling a bit astounded over the interaction but he shakes his head. 

If all Keith needs to keep himself alive is Lance’s gun then he supposes he can keep Keith in his sights. 

**Author's Note:**

> Mobs? Murder?  
> Well, at least this time they're both the hitman lmaooo
> 
> The poll for Day 31 has now closed! Thank you all so much for voting, I'll be letting you know about the winning prompt tomorrow <3 
> 
> Until then, feel free to talk to me in the comments below or over at demon-sushi at Tumblr


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